NOV. '99 PRESIDENT's CORNER
By Ron Gibby

Remember that the election of Club Officers for the year 2000 will take place at our November meeting. Also, nominations for Club Officers will still be accepted at the meeting prior to the election. At the October meeting, last year’s officers were nominated for another term. If you are interested in running for an office, please attend the November meeting and throw your hat in the ring.

A big THANK YOU to John Hanson who took the lead in decommissioning the Finley Flying Field. John fought long and hard to retain the field, but when he saw that future development in the area could jeopardize our field he took the lead in removing our presence there. Through John’s leadership and plenty of support from club members (more than 25 members) we were able in a short time to tear down or tear up and remove those things which needed to be removed. It was a sad time for many like Frank Hearst whom years ago put so much time and energy in building a great flying field at Finley, but it is time to move on and to focus our efforts and resources on the ORV Park field. I also want to thank Roger Grouell for a generous donation to the club which covered all of the expenses associated with the decommissioning of the Finley field. We gave the MAA (the other flying club) some fence posts and the dryer belts used at the north end of the runway. They were happy for the gift and can put it to good use at their field. John sold or gave away a few other items of limited value and everything else went to the landfill. A fence was installed where the gate used to be, and letters were sent to the Principal of the adjacent school and the Kennewick Irrigation District informing them that we no longer use the site. The only access to the field now is across school property. Club members should no longer use the Finley site for flying.

We continue to have club members leaving the two outer gates open at the ORV Park. They must be closed and locked when no one is at the flying field. If you are the last one to leave, please lock all of the gates. If anything could jeopardize our relationship with the City of Richland, it is leaving the gates open when no one is using the field. If anyone has a practical solution to this problem, I am open to your ideas.

Do you have your name and address or AMA number in or on each of your aircraft? If not, AMA liability protection does not apply if the aircraft is involved in an accident.

Until next month, happy flying.

For comments or questions about the club please contact me by phone at 946-5356 or by Email at president@tcrcm.org.